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Planet Malta
Homeworld of the Outcasts. Little information is available about the Outcasts, but they are believed to be heavily involved in the trafficking of the drug Cardamine. |system = Omicron Alpha system |diameter = 13,534 km |mass = 6.02 x 1024 kg |terrain = Terrestrial |temperature = -23 to 31 |escape-velocity= 12.69 km/sec |ships = Sabre |best-buy = Cardamine |best-sell = Light Arms }} Infocard *LOCATION: Omicron Alpha system *OWNER: Outcasts *DIAMETER: 13,534 km. *MASS: 6.02 x 1024 kg. *TERRAIN: Terrestrial *TEMPERATURE: -23°C to 31°C *ESCAPE VELOCITY: 12.69 km/sec Faction History The crippled sleeper ship Hispania arrived in Omicron Alpha almost 800 years ago. Its passengers named the planet Malta -- a harsh place of acidic oceans, gray skies, and vast plains covered in a species of tall, thin, orange grass. They later learned that the grass could be rendered into a narcotic substance, that they called Cardamine. Eventually the Outcasts -- as they came to think of themselves -- began limited exploration of their system. As pilots wandered farther and farther afield in search of resources, many became seriously ill. Upon planetfall, the crews mysteriously recovered. Doctors were baffled. By chance, they made a genetic scan of a critically ill pilot and made a startling discovery. His genetic codes had been altered. Outcast DNA contained strands identical to that of the orange grasses that covered the planet -- from which Cardamine was derived. Trace amounts were present in everything on the planet, from the air they breathed to the water they drank. Once pilots made lengthier journeys away from Malta, their bodies went into shock, followed by death. The Outcasts were now truly separated from the rest of humanity -- changed so that they could never expand beyond the planet on which they had landed. They needed the Cardamine now, like air or food or water. But with the origin of the sickness solved, they could at least compensate by carrying supplies of Cardamine with them and resume their exploration of their surrounding systems. When they encountered the rest of the Houses in the seventh century, a new strategy emerged. The Outcasts would deliver the poison that would rot the other Houses from the inside out and grow rich from the profits of their trade. Today the Outcasts conduct a lucrative drug-smuggling operation using the network of Jump Holes to escape detection and transport their product into the heart of the House systems. The Outcasts remain relatively few in number; a crash in the birth rate seems to have been another side effect of their genetic modification. A new development has been Cryer’s continued efforts to create a synthetic version of Cardamine that would be approved as a legal medication within Liberty. This poses a direct threat to the Outcasts' source of income. The Atka Research Station, with nearby access to Edge Nebula clouds, is the most immediate threat to the Outcasts. The location of the base within Corsair territory has brought the Outcasts into conflict with their ancient brethren. Ships For Sale *Borderworld Series Z Sabre Very Heavy Fighter Commodities For Sale *Cardamine - $300 (best price!) *Food Rations - $90 *Oxygen - $30 *Water - $150 Guns For Sale *Dragoon Type 1 *Pyros Type 1 *Dragoon Type 2 *Pyros Type 2 *Dragoon Type 3 *Pyros Type 3 *Wyrm Type 1 *Kraken Type 1 *Wyrm Type 2 Turrets For Sale *Dragoon Turret Type 1 *Pyros Turret Type 1 *Dragoon Turret Type 2 *Pyros Turret Type 2 *Kraken Turret *Wyrm Turret Missiles For Sale *Windstalker Missile - Class 3 *Sweeper Missile - Class 4 *Catapult Missile - Class 5 *Moonstalker Missile - Class 5 *Lancer Missile - Class 7 *Sunstalker Missile - Class 7 *Neutralizer Missile - Class 7 *Cannonball Missile - Class 9 *Firestalker Missile - Class 9 Shields For Sale *Adv. Aegis Fr. Shield *Adv. Aegis H.F. Shield *Adv. Aegis L.F. Shield *Adv. Brigandine Fr. Shield *Adv. Brigandine H.F. Shield *Brigandine Fr. Shield *Brigandine H.F. Shield *Brigandine L.F. Shield Torpedo/Cruise Disruptors For Sale *Starkiller Torpedo Launcher *Hornet Cruise Disruptor Mine Dispensers For Sale *Driller Mine *Razor Mine *Screamer Mine *Swatter Mine *Tadpole Mine News Rumors Outcasts "There were more than four sleeper ships that left for Sirius. Eight ships launched from the Federation dockyards on Pluto those many centuries ago. The Coalition fleet intercepted them before they could activate their jump drives, and three of the sleeper ships were destroyed in Sol. Five ships escaped, four of them might sound familiar: the Liberty, the Rheinland, the Bretonia, and the Kusari. The fifth was the Hispania." "The Hispania, our sleeper ship that launched from Sol, escaped the Coalition forces undamaged, but there was a saboteur aboard. We had almost made it to Sirius when an explosion woke the crew and her passengers from their stasis sleep. The ship was crippled, adrift in the vastness of interstellar space." "When the Hispania was badly damaged while traveling to the Sirius Sector, the crew had to determine the best way to survive. Half the crew wanted to abandon ship and make the rest of the journey using Hispania's shuttles; the other half believed they could reach Sirius in the Hispania. Those who chose to stay behind held the ship together until planetfall here on Malta." "When we arrived on this planet there was nothing but sprawling fields of tall orange grasses. Our first foraging parties often didn’t return. When we sent others after them, we found out why. One becomes severely lacerated after just a few minutes walking through the razor-sharp grasses. If you continue much longer, you eventually bleed to death." "The orange grasses that cover Malta are the source of Cardamine. Several years after our arrival, one of our scientists discovered how to process the drug into its current form. The grasses are one of a few plants that will grow in such acidic soil." "The first several years after we arrived were touch and go. Many people starved; others simply gave up and died strung out on Cardamine. They would stare out into the distance — all hope gone from their faces, and purple juice dribbling from their mouths." "After several centuries when we began to venture back out into space, some of our ships did not return. Eventually we realized the cause: the Cardamine we were exposed to on Malta had slowly altered our genetic code and made us dependent on the drug. The breather masks give us enough Cardamine to survive outside of Malta." "When the Outcasts discovered the other inhabitants of Sirius we wanted to destroy them. We believe that the sabotage of the Hispania was the work of another colony trying to lessen competition for resources. Instead of throwing our lives away in an attack, the Dons decided to seek revenge with the Cardamine. If we can get enough of Sirius hooked, we will rule this space." "There are other survivors of the Hispania, the Corsairs. Once long ago we were brethren, the scourge of southern Sirius. The Cardamine and time have changed us. We share very little in common with the Corsairs now; they have become more our competitors than anything else." "Malta imports most of its vital Commodities from Yanagi and Ruiz. The Junkers have made our lives on this planet much easier. We have used the riches that Cardamine has made us to build a paradise in place of what was once a prison." "Many of the components we require to manufacture our ships come from Freeport 10, including Ship Hull Panels, Polymers, and Construction Machinery. More is always needed." "MOX is always in demand here. We use it for our larger ships, and we have discovered a means of making extremely destructive weaponry from it. Should a large navy enter this system, it would soon be destroyed by our planetary defense missiles. These missiles are a vehicle for chain-reaction, plutonium-tipped warheads." "The Cardamine cartels ship the drug from this planet to our two distribution centers: Ruiz and Cali. From there it travels throughout Sirius, infecting the populace with the hunger for more of what we have to sell." "Cardamine is shipped directly to Buffalo in New York. New York and Liberty offer us the greatest opportunity to exploit the benefits of a Cardamine addicted people." "An ancient race of beings developed the orange grasses on our planet. The codes within the genetic structure of the grass transform the user slowly. We are not human because we have been given a gift and can see further into the truth than any man. Human beings are infants dabbling in the loam of an expansive ocean that stretches beyond the horizon. The Cardamine has let us see this." "Why have we flourished? Why are our ships so well crafted and designed? We operate on a higher order of being. Many wonder why we take life so easily. It is because this life is just a dream of what truly is. What human beings cherish is an illusion; there is no such thing as death, only change." "We are the ones who were left behind. We were not meant to survive, but we did, and in doing so have become much more. The Cardamine has tied us to this planet, but it has changed us into something greater than you can understand. We are destined to rule Sirius one day. It will be our revenge upon those who wished to destroy us." "The Outcasts consider the Siniestre Nube a sacred place for several reasons. Early explorers discovered a Jump Hole within the depths of the cloud that led to a strange world of ringed stars and strange craft. All ships in the burial ground are placed facing that Hole to honor the alien spirits." "In the heart of the Siniestre Cloud is an intense radiation pocket of unknown origins. Over the centuries, this area — located midway between the Omicron Beta Hole and the planet Carinea — became the traditional burial grounds of the great Outcast pilots. When a warrior dies, they are put in their ship with their most treasured weapons and set adrift in the zone, always facing towards the source of the spirits. But be careful, strange alien beings are said to guard this most sacred of Outcast places." Category:Planets Category:Edge Worlds Category:Hispania Category:Criminals